Bufflehead. First on the list.

Bufflehead


Walking downtown Ryan and I spotted a whole bunch of ducks swimming, sleeping, and feeding in the river by our apartment. We were able to identify some of the ducks we saw (mallards, egret), but not this little black and white guy. (The photo is of the male) Turns out the Bufflehead is the smallest duck in North America, and migrate from the Northern part of the continent to the eastern and western coasts. They also tend to mate monogomously, unlike most ducks.

We also saw an odd mallard that we were unable to identify. One of the distinguishing characteristics of a mallard is the white ring around it's neck, but the duck we saw (relaxing with other mallards on rocks) was sans ring, and almost twice the size of the other ducks. It had a green head, and dark brown body.

Our research led us to the fact that mallards are the most common ducks to produce hybrids, with over 400 hybrids having been identified.

Now I need to start taking my camera everywhere I go, so that I can start taking photographs of all these birds!

Birds Sighted:
1. Bufflehead
2. Mallard
3. Great Egret